Critic Reviews

The game is a puzzler of sorts, the clues you are given force some exploration and a bit of lateral thinking in order to move on to the next scene. At times it can be frustrating when having to explore similar looking areas and avoiding the endless respawning enemies but that is really only a minor criticism.
The difficulty level of Ecco can often feel quite unbalanced. At times it is very easy, at other times frustratingly hard. The balance is significantly better in its sequel 'the tides of time' if you can wait for it to arrive on the Virtual Console. There's still some of the magic left, but don't expect this to live up to the hype from all those years ago.

Playing Ecco now, 13 years later, is still enjoyable. Just not remarkable. The game inspired several ports, spin-offs and sequels, but hasn't gone down as a true classic. It's a notable, interesting and challenging release, but it shouldn't take your 800 points before some other, more worthy choices. Ecco helped diffuse a time of tension, but that time's long since past. This porpoise has served his purpose, and can be safely passed.

Although the visuals and controls still feel slick and worthy enough to be truly representative of the era, the annoying need to worry about coming up for air was a real frustration as you get further into the game. Interesting, but by no means an essential glimpse into the past.